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CONSTITUTION 



BY-LAWS 



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SOCIETY. 



CIRCULAR NUMBER FOUR. 




JANUARY, 1858 



BOSTON : 

HENRY W. DUTTON AND SON, PRINTERS, 

Nos. 33 and 35, Congress Street. 
M.DCCC.LVIII. 



CONSTITUTION 



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BY-LAWS 



OF THE 

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SOCIETY. 



CIRCULAR NUMBER FOUR. 




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BOSTON : 

HENRY W. BUTTON AND SON, PRINTERS, 

No8. 88 and 86, Congress Street. 
M.DCCC.LVITI. 



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CONSTITUTION. 



BEVISED AND ADOPTED, JULY 11, 1855. 



Article 1. — The Society shall be called The New England Historic- 
Genealogical Society, 

Article 2. — The objects of the Society shall be to collect, preserve and 
disseminate the local and general history of New England, and the Genealogy of 
New England families. 

Article 3. — The Society shall be composed of Resident, Corresponding and 
Honorary Members, who shall be elected by ballot, having been nominated by 
the Board of Directors. 

Article 4. — Every person elected a member of the Society shall become such 
by signifying his acceptance to the Corresponding Secretary, in writing ; and any 
member may withdraw from it, at any time, by certifying his intention of so 
doing" to the Recording Secretary, in writing, and paying all dues to the Treasurer. 

Article 5. — Each Resident Member shall pay into the Treasury, on his ad- 
mission, the sum of three dollars, and two dollars annually ; and if he neglects 
or refuses to pay said tax for two years, he shall forfeit his membership, unless 
the Board of Directors shall otherwise order. 

Article 6. — The Officers of the Society shall be a President : a Vice-Presi- 
dent for each of the New England States ; an Honorary Vice-President for such 
other of the United States as the Society, by vote, may determine ; a Correspond- 
ing Secretary ; a Treasurer ; a Recording Secretary ; a Librarian ; and a Board 
of Directors. 

A rticle 7. — The President, the Vice-President for Massachusetts, the Cor- 
responding and Recording Secretaries, and the Treasurer, shall constitute the 
Board of Directors. 

Article 8. — The Society shall meet quarterly in the city of Boston, on the 
first Wednesdays of January, April, July and October, to transact business ; and 
at such other times as the Board of Directors shall appoint.* 

[* The Board of Directors have appointed stated meetings to be held on the first 
Wednesdays of each month of every year, at 3 o'clock in the afternoon.] 



Article 9.— The Officers of the Society shall be chosen at the January 
meeting, by ballot, and at any other stated meeting when a vacancy shall have 
occurred. 

Article 10. — By-Laws for the more particular government of the Society, 
may be made or amended by a vote of three-fourths of the members present at 
any regular meeting thereof, notice of the same having first been given and 
entered upon the records at a previous meeting of the Society. 

Article 11. — No alteration of this Constitution shall be made except at a 
quarterly meeting, on recommendation of the Board of Directors, and by a vote 
of three-fourths of the members present ; notice of the proposed alteration hav- 
ing first been given and entered upon the records at a previous regular meeting 
of the Society. 



BY-LAWS. 



BEVISED AND ADOPTED, OCTOBER 3, 1855. 



Article 1. — To accomplish the objects of the Society, it shall be the duty of 
its members to seek genealogical and historical information by correspondence, 
to procure pamphlets, books, written communications, records and papers, ancient 
or modern, which may in any way contribute to the accomplishment of the end of 
its formation. 

Article 2. — All donations shall be entered in the records of the Librarian, by 
specifying them, the time of their reception, together with the name of the donor; 
and all such donations shall be acknowledged by the said Librarian, by letter, 
■with a tender of the thanks of the Society for the same. 

Article 3. — All written communications shall be deemed the property of the 
Society, unless the right to such be specially reserved by their authors or de- 
positors. 

Article 4. — No manuscripts shall be taken from the library of the Society, 
without permission from the Board of Directors. 

Article 5. — The Corresponding Secretary shall conduct the general corre- 
spondence of the Society, 

Article 6. — A publishing Committee, of three or more, shall be appointed in 
October by the Board of Directors. 

Article 7. — The Society, at the annual meeting, shall choose two other Standing 
Committees, to consist of five members each : the first on Finance, and the second 
on the Library. These Committees shall hold monthly meetings for the transac- 
tion of business. 

Article 8. — The Committee on Finance, of which the Treasurer shall be, 
ex officio, a member, shall make a monthly examination of the books and accounts 
of the Treasurer ; examine and report upon such motions involving the expendi- 
ture of money as shall be made at any meeting ; and have a general supervision 
of the Finances of the Society. 

Article 9. — The Committee on the Library, of which the Librarian shall be, 
ex officio, a member, shall solicit donations to the Library ; determine what books 
may be taken from the room by the members ; decide upon the arrangement of 
the books and pamphlets on the shelves, and upon the manner in which they shall 



be catalogued ; oversee the cataloguing thereof; and have a general supervision 
of the Library and room. 

With the consent of the Board of Directors, this Committee may make dona- 
tions and exchanges with the duplicate books and pamphlets; but a full and par- 
ticular record of the same shall be kept by the Clerk of the Committee. 

Article 10. — An Historiographer shall be chosen at the annual meeting, whose 
duty It shall be to collect and preserve materials for a history of the Society, and 
for biographies of its members. Whenever it is deemed advisable he shall pre- 
pare the same for publication. 

Artice 11. — It shall be the duty of the Board of Directors to superintend and 
conduct the prudential and executive business of the Society, and to see that its 
Constitution be complied with, and that its By-Laws be duly enforced. 

Article 12. — The January meeting shall be the time for the payment of the 
annual tax. 

Article 13. — Resident and Life members only shall be entitled to vote at 
the meetings of the Society, to hold the office of Director, or be members of 
either of the Standing Committees. 

Article 14. — No person who resides in New England shall hereafter be chosen 
a Corresponding member ; and Corresponding members from other States, coming 
into New England to reside, shall cease to be such ; but, on application, may be- 
come Resident members. 

Article 15. — The payment of fifty dollars for that purpose, by himself or 
others, shall constitute any Resident, Corresponding or Honorary member, a Life 
member of the Society ; and said Life member shall be free from assessments 
and entitled to all the rights and privileges of Resident members during his Life. 

Article 16. — The Treasurer shall have charge of all moneys belonging to 
the Society ; shall collect all fees and taxes ; shall pay all accounts against the 
Society, when approved of by the Board of Directors ; shall keep a full account 
of all receipts and expenditures, in a book belonging to the Society ; and shall 
at each annual meeting, and at other times, if required by the Board of Directors, 
present a detailed report of the same, in writing. 

Article 17. — The Librarian shall take charge of the books, pamphlets, man- 
uscripts, and all other things belonging to the Society, or deposted for its use ; 
shall purchase books, under the instruction of the Board of Directors ; shall make 
out a correct catalogue of the works belonging to the Society, keep a record of 
such as are taken out, and shall report at the annual meeting, and at such other 
times as the Board of Directors shall appoint, concerning the Library. He shall 
have charge of the rooms of the Society, and make, or cause to be made, all suit- 
able preparations for holding its meetings. 

Article 18. — A majority of the Board of Directors shall constitute a quorum. 



Article 19. — The order of proceedings at the meetings shall be this, viz. :— 

1. Read the records of the preceding meeting. 

2. Announce donations. 

3. Read letters received in correspondence. 

4. Attend to unfinished business. 

5. Read written communications. 

6. Receive verbal communications. 

7. Transact business specially introduced. 

8. Propose candidates for admission. 

Article 20. — All motions submitted at any meeting of the Society, shall, on 
the request of the presiding officer, be submitted in writing. 

Article 21.— It shall be the duty of the Recording Secretary to keep a 
faithful and full record of all the proceedings of the Society at its meetings ; and, 
to prevent omissions and misconceptions, it shall be the duty of the said Record- 
ing Secretary to keep a separate record of said proceedings, and to read it at the 
next succeeding meeting, that errors, should any appear, may not be entered upon 
the permanent book of the records of the Society. 

[Adopted January 7, 1857.] 
Article 22. — All elections to membership that are not accepted within one 
year from the date thereof shall be void, unless otherwise ordered by the Directors. 

A true copy from the Records, 

John Ward Dean, 
Boston, November 13, 1857. Recording Secretary. 



N. B. Genealogical investigation being one of the principal objects of this 
Society, it seems desirable that some facts concerning its members and their fam- 
ily history should be preserved. Each member who has not already furnished 
such facts is, therefore, invited to send to the Historiographer, Joseph Palmer, M. 
D., his own name in full, and the place and date of his birth ;— the names of his 
father and mother in full, and the places and dates of their birth, and (when dead) 
their death ;— and such other information of this kind as may be convenient. 
Relatives and friends of deceased members are invited to send the like information, 
adding the place and date of death. 



8 



Oflcers of the New England Historical and Genealogical 
Society for the Year 1858. 



President, 
SAMUEL GARDNER DRAKE, Esq., of Boston. 

Vice Presidents, 

Massachusetts. Hon. Francis Bkinley of Boston. 

Maine. Hon. William Willis of Portland. 

New Hampshire. Hon. Noah Martin of Dover. 

Vermont. Rev. John Wheeler, D. D., of Burlington. 

Rhode Island. Hon. William R. Staples of Providence. 

Connecticut. Rev. Leonard Bacon, D. D., of New Haven. 

Honorary Vice Presidents, 
New York. Hon. Millard Pillmore of Buffalo. 

New Jersey. Hon. Joseph C. Hornblower of Newark. 
Pennsylvania. Hon. Samuel Breek of Philadelphia. 
Maryland. S. P. Streetcr, Esq., of Baltimore. 

North Carolina. Edward Kidder, Esq., of Wilmington. 
South Carolina. Rev. Thomas Smyth, D. D., of Charleston. 
Ohio. Hon. Elijah Hayward of McConnellsville. 

Michigan. Hon. Lewis Cass of Detroit. 

Indiana. Hon. Ballard Smith of Cannelton. 

Illinois. Hon. John Wcntworth of Chicago. 

Wisconsin. Cyrus Woodman, Esq., of Mineral Point. 

Iowa. Rt. Rev. Henry W. Lee, D. D., of Davenport. 

Corresponding Secretary, 
Rev. Samuel H. Riddel of Boston. 

Hecording Secretary, 
William M. Cornell, M. D., of Boston. 

Treasurer, 
Mr. Isaac Child of Boston. 

Librarian, 
Mr. Edward Holden of Roxbury. 

Historiographer, 
Joseph Palmer, M. D., of Boston. 



Standing Committees 
On Publication. 

Rev. William Jcnks, D. D., of Boston. 
Hon. Francis Brinley of Boston. 
Hon. Timothy Farrar of Dorchester. 
Mr. John Ward Dean of Boston. 
Mr. William H. Whitmore of Boston. 



Mr, 



Mr, 



1 Finance. 
Sylvester Bliss, Esq., of Roxbury. 
William E. Baker of Boston. 
Jacob Q. Kettelle, Esq., of Boston. 
C. Benj. Richardson of Boston. 



Mr. Isaac Child of Boston, {ex officio.) 



On the Library. 
Mr. Thomas J. Whittemorc of Cambridge. 

William Makepeace, Esq., of Boston. 

Horace G. Barrows, M. D., of Boston. 
Mr. Edward S. Rand, Jr., of Cambridge. 
Mr. Edward Holden of Roxbury, (ex officio.) 



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